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No Barrel Rolls?

I've been playing wipeout since its birth, was there from the beginning. And I loved it, every reincarnation of the game has been amazing (even Fusion - the 2 player split screen was amazing).

However, as we know, the PSP incarnations saw the introduction of Barrel Rolls, and though I didn't like them at first, they've grown on me to the point where I cannot imagine wipEout without the BR's.

Last night I was racing with a good friend and member of WZ and we were messaging each other about the whole Formula Fusion no BR issue. Now, as much as we appreciate the whole re-ignition of this game, we really had a hard time understanding why the Barrel Rolls were taken out?

And what will replace this mechanic which requires an ongoing skill which develops and increases the addiction of this game? Some members have recommended that no turbos be available in the game and instead - an option to turn each wep into a turbo instead - for me, this makes no sense as all we'd see is weps being converted to turbos in every race. Some others have made similar suggestions but none of them require the player to develop a specific skillset as in the case of barrel rolling.... I mean, it's hard enough to BR in some spots, but once that skillset is developed, it's a logical progress for the player to chain BR, by getting extra air from the last BR to BR all over again - it's tricky, but easily done by those who have invested time into the game - it's one of the things which keeps them coming back to race with us.

I feel that if barrel rolls were to go, we'd essentially be losing the evolutionary heritage of wipEout in formula fusion - and thus, I'd probably stack FF in line with the other futuristic racers which wanted to be wipeout but didn't quite cut the grade.

Iím a bit like you, in that I didnít like barrel rolls at first but eventually I got used to it. However, if they are gone in FF, Iím not sure Iíd be so sad about it. I like the gameplay it adds (high risk high reward) but I dislike the need to left/right/left (feels weird in a racing game, not to mention all the times you want to left/right/left and donít want to BR).

In the end we also have to remember FF is not meant to be a clone of WipEout. Sure we shall have a bit of its feeling but not a copy of it.

I really don't need them if the gameplay is similar to earlier games, where making turns requires sliding around them instead of pounding on side shift. I would still like a turbo feature however, maybe your turbo meter builds up for not touching walls or something like that, reward good driving with more turbo.

If I was making another actual wipeout game, I would take barrel rolls out. I had a couple of ideas for mechanics to try that would come in, instead, not direct replacements, just nuanced behaviour.

Given formula fusion is not a wipeout game, I wouldnt imagine they would be included. I am sure they have their own take on things and gameplay mechanics

*Jabberjaw - additional turbo or speed for not clipping walls, was something we played around with in a prototype, alas that 'version' of WO was ditched before it began. But it was a concept that was interesting.

The fact that BR's in WO are tied to a quick maneuvering of the same controls that are used for steering is now / and always has been, the major sticking point.
Some people can do it easily, others, inconsistently at best .
But either way, just the process of doing one will alter your racing line because of this steering tie-in.

I suppose [guessing here] that the original idea was sort of a 'Spitfire Victory Roll' move, that once successfully performed would give you a speed boost on landing.

I would prefer that if BR's were to be kept, that they need a different, "None Steering Effecting" control input.
And one that can be performed by all equally, via rapid control input, rather than the hit or miss controls ATM

Not really, no. In wo3 however, your turbo was connected to your energy bar, so hitting walls took away turbo ability, but scraping walls did not. Colin, that would have been interesting to see, people having to stay completely off the wall to build up turbo. I would have to reinvent how I played those first four games if this was in those, as I scrape a lot on inside turns without losing speed. Wopure would have been a natural fit though as scraping always slows you down to some degree depending on how hard you are hitting.

Hmm thatís weird. I was convinced that you raced over Talonís Reach (1st track of WO2097/XL) with Piranha extremely fast thanks to the never-ending speed that was implemented in the game. Man, youíve just shattered the Myth of Sartwell :(